ENGL 384 - Multicultural Children's Literature
Library Research Guide
Historical and Social Context
These databases and books can help provide context for historical events and the social context of your books.
They are just a sampling of what K-State Libraries offers. If you need to research a different topic, visit our complete list of databases.
You can locate more books that introduce you to a topic by searching Search It (the search box on the Libraries' home page) for your topic and terms like: encyclopedia, handbook, or dictionary.
Search Tips:
1. Collect keywords that concisely describe the topics you are researching. We do this to increase our chances of finding relevant articles, even if the researcher is using different terms from those used in the books or your class discussions.
Start narrow with the person, object, or event from the book. Then add the categories to which they may belong.
Example: Packard --> car
Once you have categories, add synonyms.
Example: Car = automobile = sedan
2. Read the bibliographies and references. Whether on Wikipedia or in an academic journal article, find out what sources the author consulted. These could be relevant to your research, too.
When you find a title that looks relevant, paste the title (just the title) into Search It to see if K-State Libraries owns it. If we do not, we can try to get a copy for you from another library through Interlibrary Loan.
3. Plan to research, write, research, write. Writing and research feed and inform each other. Be sure to plan time to do both, several times.
4. Ask a librarian - we can help you at the planning stage and when you get stuck. We can help you via chat, email, or Zoom. You can talk to me, your librarian, or talk to trained library student employee through our Peer Consultations.
K-State Libraries Databases
Starting Points
These databases include many reference books about literature. They are a good place to get your feet under you and get an idea about commonly discussed themes in the works you are studying. They also include some scholarly articles, book reviews, author biographies, and even, sometimes, interviews or statements from the authors.
- Literary Reference CenterPaid for by K-State Libraries
Offers full-text reference resources geared primarily toward undergraduate students. In addition to critical reviews of literature and encyclopedias, the Literary Reference Center also provides biographies, book reviews, author interviews, synopses and work overviews, literary journals, classic novels, and classic and contemporary short stories and poems. - Literature Resource CenterPaid for by K-State Libraries
Provides researchers with unbounding literary resources to support their literary responses, literary analysis, and thesis statements through a diversity of scholars and critics that ensure all views and interpretations are represented through up-to-date biographies, overviews, full-text criticisms, audio interviews, and reviews on writers from all eras. Use this resource to analyze authors and works throughout time.
History and Legal Databases
- America: History & LifePublication Dates Covered: 1964 - present Simultaneous users: 6 Paid for by K-State Libraries
Indexes and abstracts for approximately 1,800 journals in the field of United States and Canadian history. Full-text coverage for more than 280 journals and more than 80 books. Contains citations and links to book and media reviews. Can search by time period. - HeinOnline
HeinOnline is a premier online database containing more than 160 million pages and 200,000 titles of historical and government documents in a fully searchable, image-based format. HeinOnline bridges an important research gap by providing comprehensive coverage from inception of more than 2,600 law-related periodicals. In addition to its vast collection of academic journals, HeinOnline contains the entire Congressional Record, Federal Register, and Code of Federal Regulations, complete coverage of the U.S. Reports back to 1754, and entire databases dedicated to treaties, constitutions, case law, world trials, classic treatises, international trade, foreign relations, U.S. Presidents, and much more.
Interdisciplinary Databases
- Communication & Mass Media Complete
Paid for by K-State Libraries
Indexes and abstracts of more than 600 journals, 420 of which also include full text articles. CMMC contains a Communication Thesaurus and comprehensive reference browsing as well as over 3,000 author biographies. - Diversity Database Suite
Paid for by K-State Libraries
Provides a combined search for Ethnic NewsWatch and Ethnic NewsWatch History which feature newspapers, magazines, and journals from ethnic and minority presses; GenderWatch which features historical and current perspectives of gender roles; and Alt-PressWatch which showcases some of the nation’s most respected and cited grassroots publications. Searches can be narrowed to peer-reviewed publications. - JSTOR (also new home of the Artstor content)
Paid for by K-State Libraries
A full-text collection of more than 550 core journals ranging from history to business to literature to science and mathematics. Coverage begins with the first issue of a title, but the most recent three to five years of each title are usually not available. The full article text is searchable.Note: The Artstor content transitioned to the JSTOR platform over the summer of 2024 and it was retired on August 1, 2024. If you had image groups on Artstor, they should be copied over to your JSTOR Workspace.
- Project MusePublication Dates Covered: 1995 - present Paid for by K-State Libraries
Full-text scholarly journals in the humanities, arts, and social sciences. Titles include the most widely held and heavily used core titles from noted academic publishers. Subjects include literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, mathematics and others.
Literature and Popular Culture Databases
- Encyclopedia of Popular Music
Paid for by K-State Libraries
Part of Oxford Music Online, the Encyclopedia of Popular Music covers all popular musical genres spanning from 1900 to the present day, including artist bibliographies and discographies. - MLA (Modern Language Association) International BibliographyPublication Dates Covered: 1926 - present Paid for by K-State Libraries
This is the largest and most comprehensive database for literary criticism in all languages. Also covers folklore, linguistics, and film studies. Includes journal and book articles, books, and dissertations. Does not index book reviews in literary journals. - Music IndexPublication Dates Covered: 1976 - present Paid for by K-State Libraries
Articles and reviews published in academic journals and popular magazines on all aspects of music including styles such as classical, jazz, popular, folk, and world music, and the fields of musicology, ethnomusicology, theory, applied and professional topics, music education, and the music industry.
K-State Libraries Books
American Decades by Call Number: E169.12 .A419 1994ISBN: 9780810357228Publication Date: 1996Intended as a reference source for American social history, this 10-volume set discusses the people, events and ideas of the 20th century. Each decade is a separate volume.
The Great Depression in America by Call Number: E169.1 .Y595 2007ISBN: 9780313335204Publication Date: 2007Everything from Amos n' Andy to zeppelins is included in this expansive two volume encyclopedia of popular culture during the Great Depression era. Two hundred entries explore the entertainments, amusements, and people of the United States during the difficult years of the 1930s.
The Anthology of Rap by Call Number: Ebook - available online. ML3531 .A573 2010ISBN: 9780300141917Publication Date: 2011In The Anthology of Rap, editors Adam Bradley and Andrew DuBois explore rap as a literary form, demonstrating that rap is also a wide-reaching and vital poetic tradition born of beats and rhymes. This pioneering anthology brings together more than three hundred rap and hip-hop lyrics written over thirty years, from the "old school" to the "golden age" to the present day. The volume also features an overview of rap poetics and the forces that shaped each period in rap's historical development, as well as a foreword by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and afterwords by Chuck D and Common.
Ebook edition.
Data and Social Statistics
These resources will help with questions about average income, cost of products, and demographics.
K-State Libraries Databases
- Sociological AbstractsPublication Dates Covered: 1963 - present Paid for by K-State Libraries
Search international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. Indexes journal articles, book reviews, books, book chapters, dissertations, and conference papers.
Open Access Digital Collections
These sites offer free access to data. Most are government sources that, in the United States, are charged with collecting data.
- Historical Statistics of the United States, 1789-1957This digitized book from the United State Census presents charts and graphs of statistics about the United States covering 1789-1945.
- Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population SurveyThis site from the Bureau of Labor Statistics allows you to retrieve historical data related to employment and labor from the Current Population Survey. Years available varies.
- Historical Racial and Ethnic Demographics of the United States (Wikipedia)This page pulls together data from the U.S. Census. However, because the data has been transcribed, this page is best used as a quick way to find the original data on the Census website.
- Pew Research CenterThe Center conducts national surveys about public attitudes toward the press, politics, and public policy issues. The site contains both raw data, which can be downloaded, as well as commentary and summaries of findings. The newer data sets are in SPSS, and the older data is in ASCII text using a fixed format; Pew strongly recommends that only experienced analysts download these files.
K-State Libraries Books
Demographic Trends in the 20th Century by Call Number: EbookISBN: 9780160676338Publication Date: 2002Illustrates changes in the American population from 1900 to 2000. Published by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Statistical Handbook on Racial Groups in the United States by Call Number: E184.A1 H417 2000ISBN: 9781573562669Publication Date: 2000As the shift in the racial and ethnic composition of the united States continues, students, researchers, and others will find it important to understand the differences between_and similarities among_racial groups. This volume compiles a broad range of statistical data on important topics across various racial groups. Gathered from authoritative sources, this information offers statistical comparisons on timely subjects, including: educational goals, attitudes about employment, leisure pursuits, marital happiness, attitudes about contraception, religious beliefs, arrest rates, and political party preferences.
Value of a Dollar 1860-2014 by Call Number: EbookISBN: 1916252923Publication Date: 2014The Value of a Dollar records the actual prices of thousands of items that consumers purchased from the Civil War to the present, along with facts about investment options and income opportunities.
